Hopedale Town Hall deed raises questions

In a Worcester County deed dated Sept. 19, 1887, the children of George Draper, founder of the Draper Corporation, granted the town of Hopedale - in exchange for $1 - ownership the Town Hall he built for the community.

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 14, 2013 at 2:04 PM

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 14, 2013 at 2:04 PM

HOPEDALE

» Social News

In a Worcester County deed dated Sept. 19, 1887, the children of George Draper, founder of the Draper Corporation, granted the town of Hopedale - in exchange for $1 - ownership the Town Hall he built for the community.

The deed puts some restrictions on the town’s control over the building, though, including its ability to modify it without approval from the grantors or their survivors.

With only distant heirs of George Draper still alive, some residents are questioning whether the town needs to get the family’s OK before going forward with a proposed $6.8 million major renovation, should funding be approved at special Town Meeting on June 18.

At an informational meeting on the project Tuesday night, Ed Burt, chairman of the Town Hall Renovation Committee, explained that officials originally thought that if the town stopped using the building, the deed called for it to revert back to the heirs.

But town counsel after reviewing the deed determined that is no longer the case, Burt said.

"We just got some information back from counsel that says the clauses that restrict and trigger the building to revert back have expired," he explained.

"The opinion we received in writing is that the reverting to the (heirs) doesn’t apply. It applied during the life of the grantor himself and his immediate offspring, all of whom have since passed," Town Coordinator Eugene Phillips further clarified.

But resident Don Howe, who provided copies of the deed at the meeting, questioned whether "the grantors and the survivor of them" includes living heirs, who are scattered around the country.

Howe urged town counsel to look into it further, and suggested the committee make approval from the family a condition of the project.

"Getting permission from the heirs wouldn’t be as difficult or as daunting as you might imagine," resident Bernie Stock added. "I spoke with two of the heirs today, explained the situation to them and they’re very much willing to receive a fax or mailing with some sort of description of what you plan to do to the building and they would be willing to sign off on it."

Howe said reaching out to as many heirs as the town can would show "due diligence" and would protect the town going forward.

Burt agreed, and on Thursday said in an email that the committee is in the process of contacting the heirs because, "legal aspect aside, providing the heirs with a summary of the project for their understanding and support is the right thing to do."

Jessica Trufant can be reached at 508-634-7556 or JTrufant@wickedlocal.com.